1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sanitary guards for telephone handsets.
2. Background
The telephone today plays an extremely important part in practically everything taking place, and more effort should be directed at stopping diseases which may be spread through contact with a telephone.
Public telephones, in particular public telephones in airports, are handled by a multitude of people each day. In the event that just one of this multitude of persons was sick, every subsequent user is subject to infection by whatever germs might be able to sustain themselves until being passed on.
Other than germs, telephones handled by large numbers of people may from time to time accumulate other undesirable substances thereon, e.g., grease.
In this respect, although it may not be feasible or probable to eliminate these accumulations at their inception, precautions may be taken by any particular user to resist the spreading of them.
A number of attempts have been made to provide a solution to the problems stated above, but have failed apparently for one reason or another. The absence of items on the market in use evidences insufficiency of public acceptance.
One such prior device is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 1,833,643. This patent expressly discloses a protector for only the mouthpiece of a telephone. The protector includes a disinfectant material and an elaborate mechanism for causing the disinfectant to be released onto the mouthpiece.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,238,313 discloses another protector for telephone mouthpieces. While one of the stated objects of the patent is low cost manufacturing of the item, the description includes a complicated construction of a filter 13 for the protector at Column 1, line 1, through Column 2, line 18.
Two other U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,001,033 and 3,148,249 disclose covers for the mouthpieces only of telephones. The latter of these two patents has as a primary object the interception of particles or germs ejected from the mouth of a user of the telephone.
As noted above, incentives to take initial preventive measures are often lacking. The instant problem is more realistically approached by assuming the presence of particles and/or germs and taking steps to prevent the spreading thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,169,171 does disclose, if only impliedly, the use of protective covers on both the receivers and transmitter (i.e., mouthpiece) of telephones. However, the suggested solution involves placing identical, wholly independent, caps over each of the receiver and transmitter of a phone. This is inconvenient and also possibly uneconomical.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,555 discloses a telephone guard constructed of sheet vinyl or polyethylene including a first cap covering the receiver, i.e., earpiece, and a second cap covering the transmitter, i.e., mouthpiece of the telephone handset. Both the first and second caps include on the face thereof a perforated surface which may be constructed by providing holes therethrough, or any other suitable method.
The primary object of this invention is to provide a new and improved sanitary guard for telephone handsets.
Further objects of this invention are to provide a new and improved sanitary guard for telephone handsets which restricts the spread of germs to users of the telephone, which restricts transfer of dirt and/or grease to and from the telephone, which is useful in a decorative manner, and which is useful as an advertising means.
Other objects of this invention are to provide a new and improved guard for telephone handsets which is extremely economical to produce, which is not exceedingly complicated to use, which is compact and portable, and which may be easily dispensed or carried by a user to be installed when desired.
Still further objects of this invention are to provide a new and improved sanitary guard for telephone handsets which covers both the receiver and transmitter, which covers a portion of the handle of the handset and which is a one piece unit.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved guard for telephone handsets which includes a removable, replaceable germ retarding material at the face of both the receiver and the transmitter.
A further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved guard for telephone handsets which obtains one or more of the objects and advantages set forth above.
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description thereof, in view of the accompanying drawings.
These and other objects of the present invention will be described in the detailed description of the invention which follows. These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from a careful review of the detailed description and from reference to the figures of the drawings.
The present invention provides sanitary covering for a handset of a telephone. The article and method of the present invention include providing a front sheet and a back sheet composed of flexible nonwoven fabric material to form a pocket covering for receiving a telephone handset and provide a flexible sanitary guard. In one aspect, impact bonds on the front sheet and the back sheet on the left side, top, and right side of the pocket covering form a length of about 13 inches, an insertion point width of about 4.25 inches, and a narrower telephone handset holding zone width of about 3.75 inches. In one aspect, the article and method of the present invention include providing polypropylene fibers having a fabric weight of less than about 30 pounds/ream. The article and method of the present invention include providing a slit on at least one of the pocket covering sides extending from the insertion point to the narrower telephone handset holding zone width. Printed indicia on at least the front sheet indicates the nature of the intended use and instructions for the method of use of the article. The invention further includes means and method for dispensing the flexible sanitary guard from a dispenser located near a public telephone station.